AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch state-owned bank ABN AMRO ABRGPA.UL, which is being readied for an eventual stock market flotation, fell to a loss in the fourth quarter and said loan impairments were likely to remain high this year.

The bank reported a net loss of 47 million euros ($64.5 million), hit by an annual bank tax of 106 million euros and higher loan impairments of 555 million reflecting the weak state of the domestic economy.

AMSTERDAM, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Dutch staffing firm Randstad
reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings
and said it expected only a gradual improvement in the current
quarter because of the patchy economic recovery, pushing its
shares down 8 percent.

Randstad, which provides temporary staff for businesses in
Europe and North America, operates in a sector that is seen as a
barometer for economic health, as companies tend to hire
temporary staff at the beginning of a recovery when most
businesses are reluctant to add to their permanent headcount.

AMSTERDAM, Feb 11 (Reuters) – TomTom, Europe’s
largest maker of navigation devices, warned of a further decline
in earnings and revenue, citing slumping demand for its main
product – stand-alone personal sat-navs – and a tepid recovery
at best in the car market.

TomTom shares slumped 10.9 percent to 4.72 euros by 0827
GMT, having fallen as low as 4.69 euros, their lowest since
September.

AMSTERDAM/PARIS (Reuters) – Cable group Altice (ATC_w.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has set its sights on further international expansion after raising 750 million euros ($1 billion) from its stock market debut on Friday.

Altice, built via a decade of acquisitions, is surfing a wave of investor interest in the European cable sector as a growing number of consumers turn to these companies for television and broadband at faster speeds and lower prices than from telecoms rivals.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Philips said currency volatility in emerging markets such as Turkey, Argentina, and Indonesia and weak orders for healthcare equipment would mean a slow start to the year.

Shares in the Dutch healthcare, lighting and consumer appliances company fell more than 2 percent as it warned of a tough year ahead and flagged turmoil in the currency markets as a particular concern.

VELDHOVEN, The Netherlands, Jan 22 (Reuters) – ASML
, the world’s leading provider of tools for making
computer chips, gave an upbeat outlook for the first half of
this year thanks to strong demand for tablets, smartphones and
other consumer gadgets.

The Dutch firm, regarded as a barometer for the health of
Europe’s technology sector, beat forecasts for its
fourth-quarter results and reiterated its outlook for first-half
sales of about 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion).

AMSTERDAM, Jan 20 (Reuters) – East Timor demanded on Monday
that Australia return seized documents relating to the two
countries’ negotiations over oil and gas reserves thought to be
worth tens of billions of dollars.

The case brought before the United Nations’ top court pits
one of Asia’s poorest countries against its wealthy giant
neighbour, Australia, in a wider dispute involving spy agencies,
bugging allegations, snatched documents and potentially huge
rewards from developing the Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields.

AMSTERDAM, Jan 17 (Reuters) – The Dutch cabinet has reached
a decision on whether to cut production at the huge Groningen
gas field, which will be announced by Economics Minister Henk
Kamp at a news conference on Friday at 1530 GMT, a ministry
spokesman said.

Local media, citing anonymous sources, said the cabinet had
discussed slashing production to 42.5 billion cubic meters this
year and next, representing a cut of 21 percent compared to
2013.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Netherlands kept its triple-A credit rating from Fitch, which said on Friday the decision reflected the country’s strong underlying economic, institutional and credit fundamentals.

The rating agency kept the outlook at negative, however, because of the Netherlands’ weak economic growth prospects.